Recently, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for a renewed emphasis on career and technical education (CTE) in America's schools. Not the old "vocational" approach, where some students are tracked to enter a trade upon graduation from high school, while others are prepared to enter degree programs in college. No, Duncan is challenging educators to fuse career and college preparation curricula to prepare high school graduates to make smart decisions about pursuing higher education; and to be qualified to enroll in BA or BS programs, or a career certification programs, or both.

"There is a lot of talk these days about the need to boost college and career-readiness. But the truth -- and I include myself here -- is that most of the current debate is about college-readiness. Too often, career-readiness is an afterthought. . . The bar for a career-ready student is just as demanding. CTE students also must have the academic skills to be able to engage in postsecondary education and training without the need for remediation. The cause of strengthening CTE programs should never be an excuse for reducing rigor and tracking students away from pursuing a college degree."

Edutopia recently launched a special "Schools that Work" report on Career Technical Education that shows how several schools in California are merging career tech training with college prep curriculum. Check out this video and see what a new world of relevant, rigorous CTE could mean for your school.

Internships--back to the basics. Making the connection between school and the "real world"--the concept is a win-win. Students need to see the relevance of their core classes. Hands-on learning is another way to keep the at-risk population involved but also challenges the students who want to take learning to the next level. It takes a tremendous amount of work to make this a reality and I'm sure funding is an issue. But connecting this to "standards" shouldn't be the problem. In fact, it should be a test of relevance for the "standards."